Improvement in salting meats



PATENT Prion,

THOMAS seasons, on SYRACUSE, NE YORK.

IMPROVEMENT m sAL-rme. M EATS. Y

Specification forming partof LettersPatent No. 36,735, dated October 21,1862.

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, 'IHotm's SPENCER, of

Syracuse, Onondaga county,'and State of New York, have invented a newand useful Im.

provement in the Process of Salting Meats; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of my saidinvention. 7 a

'1 Most of the ordinary salt. of commerce is impure, the crystals orgrains being coated on the outside with chloride of magnesium and thechloride of calcium, which have del-iques'cent properties, and which,when used for salting meat, impart abitter and pungent taste, andotherwise injure it; and as the said impurities havedeliquescentproperties,- and they coat the outer snrfaceof the crystals,by exposure they take up moisture from the atmosphere andfrun,"thusgradually leaving the salt in purer state, and for that reason foreignsalt is generally, more pure than domestic salt, unless the latter bekept a sufficient length of time exposed to the atmosphere. TheGovernment of the-United States for that reason, in their purchases,require the meets to be salted with foreign salt, and much of the ineatsalted in the'west, where native salt is I generally used, on reachingtheAtlantic coast is repacked with foreign salt, to avoid in part theinjurious effects of the impurities in question.- 1

The object of my said inventionis to avoid the evil consequencesheretofore experienced in the-use of impure salt in salting and packingmeats.

I take the ordinary American salt-such as the Onondaga salt, or anyother salt having the like impurities-and from this I 'makethe brinerequired for what is termed the pick-1e, and of the requiredstrength, asis well known to persons acquainted with the process of ouring meats.This I do by 'putting such salt in a vat in quantity equal to what isrequiredfor salting and making I the pickle for a given quantity ofmeat, and I pour water onto it and draw it ofl from the bottom of thevat.

, Asthe impurities in question'are deliquescent saltseach as thechloride of magnesium or of calcium in the iformj of acoatingon thecrystals or grains of saltthe water, in dissolving aportion of the salt,will first dissolve the deliquescent salts, and I draw 01f the water atthe degree of saturation required to form the pickles, the degree ofsaturation beinglwell known. The salt remaining in the vet will be pure,the deliquescent salts or impurities having been dissolved andcarriederr by the process of making the pickle, and being in a purified state.Such saltI then use for packing the meat, as it is termed. The brinethus produced in the process of purifying the quantity of salt requiredfor packing contains the deliquescent salts in solution, and if usedin'thatconditi'on as a brinewould have the same injurious effect uponthe meat as if the impure salt hadbeen directlyused. To avoid this Ineutralize these deliquescent salts by,

putting into the brine an equivalent of carbonate of soda. Theproportion of this ingredient cannot be given for all cases, as theproportion of deliqnescent salts present differs iusalt obtained fromdifferent localities and with the length of exposure to the atmosphere.For new Onondaga salt about two .pounds of dry carbonate of soda toathousand pounds of saltwill be a good proportion. It is well known thatthe proportion of deliquescent salts in any samp'leof salt can bereadily ascertained, and when ascertained the quantity of soda canbeproportioned by the known law of equivalents. I stir the mass to insurethe action of the ingredients by which good effect as if it had beenmade fr om pure salt.

By the foregoing process I am enabled to salt meats as perfectly as withthe purest salt, and with cheap, salt which could not otherwise besuccessfully usedfor this purpose; and althoughtl have namedcarbon'ateof soda as the'substance which may be used success-,-

fully to neutralize the deliquescent salts pres ent in the brine, I haveonly named this substance because I have tried it with success from the(leliquescent salts, and then neutraland believe it to be best; but anyother known izing the deliqneseent salts in the brine, subchemicalequivalent may be substituted. stantially as and for the purpose hereinde- What I claim as my invention, and desire scribed. I

to secure by Letters Patent in the process 01' 'IHOS. SPENCER.

curing meat, is \Vitnesses: I

Making the brine by washing the salt to be PETER DE LACY, used forpacking, and thereby removing there- A. DELAOY.

